I am a former city girl living on the coast of North Carolina with my hubby. I am a professional writer and blogger, Influencer, fundraiser, event planner, avid traveler, Costa Rican American, social media junkie, a wannabe chef, willy-nilly foodie and all around goofy girl. Contact me: carogonza1@yahoo.com

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Saturday, September 29, 2012

If you read my blog, you know I have a long commute to work. 45 minutes on a good day. I only work 25 miles from work but my drive is on a 2 lane road through the mountains. It's a great drive but long.

So this past week, I am driving to work when all of a sudden the traffic comes to a dead stop. On a two lane road, any accident will stop traffic because there is nowhere to go. I figured there must have been an accident. Usually, accidents on the road aren't too bad because it's tough to really speed on windy mountain roads.

Luckily, I had a beautiful view of Glenville Lake where I was stopped. I sat there for about 15 minutes and I figured I better call work and let them know I would be late. When I called, I was told that the accident was a pretty bad one. In a small town, news travels quickly. I couldn't see anything from my vantage point but as people got frustrated and starting turning around, I kept moving up.

After 30 minutes, I started thinking that we might be stuck here longer than I thought. I started seeing people exit their cars and start walking toward the accident.

I sat around in the comfort of the mini car, listening to Luis Miguel, facebooking and tweeting. I was also checking emails. When I finally looked down at the clock, I realized that I had almost been there an hour. I decided to turn off the car.

More and more people started leaving and I kept moving up. I got up to the point where I saw the accident. There were cops and emergency vehicles. The accident occurred where the 2 lane road becomes 3 lanes so people can pass the pokey cars. It was the worse place for an accident because it blocked everything.

Finally I saw the man who was in the car behind me coming back to his car so I stopped him and asked what was going on. Apparently there was a head on collision. He said there were no fatalities but someone was hurt.

He also said that the problem was that everyone was waiting for the State Troopers to show up because, until they did, the cars could not be moved. In the meantime, I found out that he was also a new parent at the school where I work. So we chatted a while.

As we were chatting, a man in a truck came by and told us that it might be another hour or so before we could get moving. He was going to take another route that would be another 25 minutes but at least it was clear.

Me and the parent looked at each other and decided to follow the guy up the other route and take our chances. As we were leaving, the state troopers finally showed up. I have no idea what took them so long.

The new road was super scenic but even more windy than the usual road. It took us a while but when we arrived in town, there was absolutely no traffic coming from the road we were on.

It was the right decision to take the long way to Cashiers.

When I got to work, I got conflicting info. I heard someone was airlifted to Asheville. I heard it was more than 2 cars. I heard it was student at the local university. Again, in a small town, news travels fast and sometimes it is not always the real story. And about an hour later, we had students arriving to school because of the accident.

I was just glad it was not anyone I knew. In a small town, when there is an accident, it might be someone you know.

Monday, September 17, 2012

This is one of my favorite recipes because it is quick and easy. It also is a great side dish for chicken, fish or any meat.
I usually have to use potatoes from the store. But this time I used the fresh potatoes we grew this year. Because it was an experiment, we only planted 2 bags and the yield was pretty small. But there were enough potatoes for a good meal.

First, take your potatoes and cut them up into bite sized chunks. Chop a medium onion and chop it up. Add to the bag with the potatoes. Take a Ziploc bag and put them in. Add about 4 tablespoons olive oil, juice of a whole lemon, chopped or minced garlic and fresh chopped rosemary. Then add salt and pepper to taste.
Close the bag, mix up the potatoes so they are all coated the mixture. Let marinade for a few hours.

You can roast them alone in a 400 degree oven for 50 minutes or you can roast them with whatever protein you are using. I like to make a whole chicken and put the potatoes around the chicken so they can also pick up some of the juices the chicken will leak out.

If you do it my way, they don't get as golden brown as they would if you roasted them alone. Once done, they will soft and flaky. The garlic, rosemary and lemon make them so yummy! If you get a little crazy, you can add carrots, celery or other veggies as well. Sometimes, I add butternut squash!

This is a great meal especially for fall or winter. It's easy and quick. And let me tell you that potatoes from your own garden are the most delicious things you will ever eat! We could not believe what a difference it made to grow your own! We are planning to grow a zillion next year because that is how good they were!

Saturday, September 15, 2012

I have to preface this post by saying that I love Mel Brooks. The man is a freaking genius. He makes wonderfully funny films that I have enjoyed for decades. In fact, one of my all time favorite movies, Blazing Saddles, was co-written and directed by Mr. Brooks.
Having said that, I wish he was dead. Okay, before you start casting aspersions and saying things like: OMG, Carolyn is a hateful witch, She is horrible etc., hear me out, people, hear me out.

The other day, Tom and I were talking. Sometimes when we talk, certain people come up in the conversation and, inevitably, one of us will say: so and so dead or alive? Morbid? Sick? Demented? Maybe, but that's how we roll around here.

Usually, I am pretty good about knowing who is dead and who is alive because I have a lot of useless celebrity info in my head. Tom doesn't, so most of the time, I am correct. But then again, most of the I am correct on any given subject. That's a whole matter altogether.

Anyway, I can't even remember how we got on the subject of Mel Brooks but it was "Mel Brooks dead or alive?". Immediately, I said dead because I could have sworn he had died a few years ago. Tom said alive. Of course, I fought him on that one because I was positive.

I bet Tom $5 and he said no, let's make it dinner. We were going to try out a new restaurant in Waynesville the next day. He usually pays since I cook all the time. I didn't want to bet that much but because I was sure old Mel was dead, I made the bet.

There I was doing my happy dance because I was so sure that Mel had gone to meet his maker. Of course, I was a little sad as well because I love the man. How can you not love someone who brought us Young Frankenstein and The Producers? Hello.

We were in bed at the time and I could have waited until morning to verify the info. But something in Tom's voice made me doubt myself. He was so sure. I started sweating a little bit. My hand started shaking. Doubt began clouding my mind. As Tom continued to say that Mel was alive, I started to think I had made a sucker's bet.

Because of this, I immediately got out of bed at 11:30 pm and got online and googled Mel. I was so hoping that Wikipedia would have Mel Brooks (1929-2010) or something like that. Again, don't judge people, don't judge!

But Wiki told me he was still alive. My heart was heavy at this news because I lost the bet. But on the other hand, I was happy to read that one of my all time favorite filmmakers was still alive. I went back to bed a little happy, a little sad and cursing Mel for being alive. Tom was laughing his ass off. I was not pleased.

Let's be honest folks, I am generally a good person. Don't laugh. I try to be good but sometimes the mean girl in me comes out. I am not a horrible person although I am sure you can find a few people who would disagree with that statement. Haters! It's not like I wanted him dead. It was just I was sure he dead and I didn't want to pay for dinner.

I forgot about the bet until around 3:30pm when I decided to email Tom and give him a laugh. I emailed saying: It's 3:30 pm and Mel Brooks is still alive. WTH? It made him laugh, I knew it would because we have a perverse sense of humor. That's how we roll around here.

Ultimately, I got out of the bet by handing over a $50 gas card and pretending our dinner was not going to cost more than that. I sometimes get away with stuff because of my good looks and charm. Okay, okay, most of the time it's because Tom allows me get away with stuff. But oh well.

But in the end, it all worked out because I got a great meal and I didn't have to pay a cent. Alright, I don't have a $50 gas card but that is besides the point. And best of all, Mel Brooks is still alive! WOOOOOOO!

I want to apologize to Mr. Brooks, who I am sure reads my blog (HA!), for thinking he was dead. I am actually very happy he is not. But next time I make a dead or alive bet, I am going to be very careful!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

This is what is left of my garden. Tom cleaned it up and burned off what was left. Although we got a lot of veggies and feed ourselves and others, this year was sort of a bust.

Our tomatoes plants got dried up and scorched from the over 90 degree temperatures we had for 2 weeks. The same thing happened to our corn.

Then we had a bunch of huge crows come and attack what was left of the corn. We found husks everywhere. Stupid crows.

Our squash, cucumbers and even lettuce did well. I figure any food we can get from our garden is a good thing because it is fresh and delicious. It is also nice to be able to share with our co-workers as well.

Maybe next year, we will have more tomatoes and corn! Now we wait for Fall! Then Winter - Blergh!

Friday, September 7, 2012

The other day, my friend B at work made up these little bears to teach the new kindergartners how to be good students. The bears had little messages like: Raise your hand, Respect your classmates and other important stuff students should know. They are great for the little kids.

B had laminated the bears to re-use. Because the bears are laminated, you can write on them and then erase the message. I thought that was brilliant. B is crafty that way.

She had an extra bear so I suggested we put it on my door and put our own messages on it. That idea was poo pooed by B because she knew what kind of messages I would put on the bear. They would not be appropriate for the kids.

So we decided to write inspirational messages. Now people who don't know me well, love the messages. People who know me well do not buy the fact that these are really inspirational messages. Those people are haters.

P.S. The other day we decided to call the bear the "I Don't" Care bear. Yes, we are childish and immature but thought it was funny.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

We were invited to the wedding of one of Tom's best friends daughter. Since they have known each other since they were around 4 years old. We went.

It was a short trip. We drove out Friday morning and got to Cleveland around 6pm. We stayed at Tom's mom house. Saturday was the wedding. The weird thing is the church wedding was at noon and then the reception was at 5:30pm.

We went to both events. Luckily, I didn't get struck down by lightning by being in the church. We then went out to the lunch with some friends and then headed back to Tom's mom house to wait until the reception.

The wedding was beautiful. The reception was fun and we saw some of Tom's old friends that we hadn't seen in a long time.

I didn't take any pictures because I am a freak. We also took Scout along this trip because she has been sick lately. We are a little worried about her because the vet thinks her little body is starting to give out. We figured she deserved one last road trip, just in case.